Chapter 4: The Emerald Archer
(The scene cuts to Outworld's capital, Z'unkahran. Team S-F are walking through the crowded streets of Outworlders going about their normal business.) * Hanso: I dunno. I expected the sky to be purple or something. * Cleral: Don't believe everything you see online. * Kara Danvers: And what makes you an expert? * Cleral: The Shaolin archives. I studied a lot about Outworld. * Kara Danvers: No substitute for experience. * Cleral: So what makes you our leader? (The two of them stop walking and stare one another down. Versad intercedes before anything else happens.) * Versad: Guys, let's stick to the mission? (Kara breaks off the stare-down and walks off. Cleral smiles to himself and follows along with Versad and Hanso.) * Kara Danvers: Hawkgirl has to be telling the truth. * Hanso: An invasion would violate the Reiko Accords. * Cleral: 'Cause you can always trust an Outworlder... * Versad: But if Outworld's our ally, why didn't they help us during the Netherrealm war? Against Quan Chi and his team of... * Cleral: Revenants? Like Ares is dead? (Hanso stops dead at this remark.) * Hanso: Asshole! (Cleral turns round, addressing everyone as he does so.) * Cleral: It's not an alliance. Non-aggression pact. Outworld is not our ally. (A new voice cuts through the air, and Team S-F find themselves surrounded by several of Darkseid's soldiers. The one speaking stands out the most in his gunslinger attire: Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke.) * Deathstroke: A point you might make with more subtlety, given your surroundings. Now state your business. Including a reason why we shouldn't kill you. (Cleral puts his hand to his head, telepathically reading Slade's mind.) * Versad: I can read you. You're not from Outworld. * Deathstroke: I'm from Los Angeles - like Batman - but my employer, Darkseid is from Apokolips. So now I'm from L.A.. State your business. * Kara Danvers: We're emissaries. We need to talk to Arthur Curry. (She pulls something out of her back pocket.) Here, we have Kelpa's official seal. (Slade looks at it for a moment.) * Deathstroke: I can buy one of those at that stall right over there. * Cleral: Look, you can arrest us, even kill us, but if we're telling the truth, you probably get a pay cut - or worse. You take us to Darkseid, I'll tell him you took us down. Maybe get you a bonus. You can't lose. (Slade considers this new offer for a moment longer than he did Kara's.) * Deathstroke: Follow me. (He walks off. Team S-F follow with the soldiers close by. Cleral flashes another smile at Kara. They walk into the main plaza of the marketplace, where a crowd has gathered to watch a public event. A soldier on a raised platform addresses all present, reading from a scroll.) * Soldier: "In these times of war, we are required to view every resource as a weapon for our Emperor to use at his discretion." (The scene cuts to a closer view. A man has been bound in the stocks, and two soldiers pull him out and restrain him.) * Soldier: "To take without his leave is to steal from the hand of Darkseid himself." (Cleral stops to take in the scene, with mounting horror clear on his face.) * Soldier: "Therefore, having been found guilty of theft, you shall be put to death." * Thief: I was hungry! (He is slammed onto a headsman's block.) * Soldier: Your sentence will be carried out immediately! (Cleral turns to Slade.) * Cleral: Death? For petty theft? * Deathstroke: Remember where you are. (Defiantly, Cleral pushes his way through the crowd.) * Kara Danvers: Arrow? (Slade pulls out a revolver, intending to shoot Cleral in the back. Kara grabs his arm and throws him down, causing the shot to go wide. Versad and Hanso begin fighting the soldiers as well. On the platform, a soldier holds a macahuitl - an Aztec spiked war club - over the thief's head. As he prepares to swing it downward, an arrow pierces his shoulder, sending him down in pain. Cleral puts down his bow-staff and charges in. Three soldiers pull their swords and meet him in combat. Cleral easily blocks the first's attacks with his staff and hits him in the side of his helmet. Cleral hits another strike to his stomach and knocks him down with a bash to the back of his head. He blocks two strikes from the second soldier and sends him sprawling with a staff hit to the face, then repeats the motion to the third soldier before he can even finish his attack. Behind him, other Outworld citizens begin attacking the soldiers as well. Elsewhere, Slade blocks a high kick and a punch from Kara, and she blocks two of his attempts to shoot her and ducks a pistol whip. He counters another strike from her by bashing her in the forehead with his revolver and dashes off from the fight while she's stunned. The soldiers now have a full scale riot on their hands. One is tackled off the platform by an Outworld citizen, while a second is pushed off by another citizen, allowing Cleral to run up and free the thief from his binds.) * Cleral: Get outta here! Go! (The citizen helps the grateful thief to his feet. Cleral turns round and walks off the platform, coming face to face with Slade.) * Deathstroke: I knew I shouldn't have listened to you. * Cleral: A lesson in trust from a mercenary. * Deathstroke: Here's another learning opportunity. (They fight. Cleral defeats his nemesis.) * Cleral: I'm a quick learner. (The soldiers surrounding the rest of Team S-F are quickly defeated. A loud deep roar attracts Hanso's attention, and several thumping footsteps catch the attention of everyone else as well. They look up in horror at what is approaching, but Cleral steels himself as he hears a young girl calling out threats in the Outworld tongue. The gigantic hooded brute Torr walks into the plaza, and on his back is his rider, the diminutive Ferra. She gives off an evil cackle as they take in the scene.) * Ferra: Let's play, Torr! (Torr roars in response and starts forward. Team S-F, part of The Justice League, get into fighting stances.) * Kara Danvers: You couldn't just ask for a pony like every other girl? (Cleral nocks an arrow into his bow-staff.) * Cleral: The archives never mentioned symbiotes. (At Ferra's battle cry, Torr charges forward. Kara, Hanso and Versad run to meet them, while Cleral aims his bow-staff. Hanso ducks a right swing from Torr and tries to punch him, but Torr easily blocks her attempts. As Torr grabs Hanso and hoists her over his head, Cleral fires off an arrow that hits him in the shoulder, causing him to drop Hanso before he can slam her into the ground. Torr pulls the arrow out and charges forward, but Versad runs into his path. He blocks a fist from Torr, who blocks his attacks and grabs his leg, throwing him to the ground while Cleral prepares another shot. The brute bashes Versad with both his fists while he's down, but Cleral hits him with another arrow in the shoulder before he can repeat the motion. Once more, Torr pulls the arrow out and charges forward. Kara tries to hit him with a flying kick, but Torr catches her leg.) * Ferra: Break her face! (Torr complies by punching Kara square in her face with his free fist. He picks her up by the shoulders and hoists her over his head, eye level with Ferra, who brandishes the claws on her hands.) * Ferra: Ferra cut you! (This time, Cleral shoots his arrow at Ferra, catching her in the shoulder and knocking her off Torr's back. Torr throws down Kara and runs in to meet Cleral in combat. Ferra quickly rights herself and jumps right back on Torr's back.) * Ferra: You here make trouble, Skinny? (She barks off a growl.) Trouble make you! (Torr roars in compliance. They fight Cleral, but are both ousted.) * Cleral: And people laugh at the bow. Love to learn more about you. Too bad you're insane. (As Ferra struggles to pull herself out from under Torr's unconscious body, Cleral rushes over to the rest of Team S-F, who are picking themselves back up.) * Cleral: You guys all right? (They say nothing in response, but a cry across the plaza grabs their attention. More soldiers - far more than they can take on - dash towards them. Once they are surrounded, D'Vorah strolls up to Team S-F.) * D'Vorah: The Earthrealmers, yes? This One must learn more of your diplomatic techniques. * Kara Danvers: We're here to see Darkseid. Catwoman's-- * D'Vorah: You interfere with Outworld matters. The penalty is death. * Kara Danvers: I'm sensing a theme. * D'Vorah: But as we honour the Reiko accords, we will consult the emperor. You will await him here. (She walks off, leaving Team S-F surrounded by the soldiers. Kara turns to Cleral.) * Kara Danvers: You wanna take this opportunity to tell us what in Krypton you were thinking?! * Versad: I gotta wonder why you'd risk international war for a bread thief. * Cleral: Because not all thieves are irredeemable. (The scene fades into an enclosed shrine. The words "Five Days Ago" appear at the bottom of the screen. The doors to the shrine are opened by Cleral, wearing the shrouded clothes of a thief. He looks around the shrine, which has paintings of many of Earthrealm's greatest heroes framed on the walls. Cleral stops at two of the paintings - of the Shaolin's finest, Kung Lao and Liu Kang. Cleral looks regretful at what he is going to do, but nonetheless steels himself and picks up a jade statue on a table below the paintings, small enough to hold in one hand. After pausing another moment to contemplate his actions, he grips the statue tightly and flees the shrine. An exterior shot reveals that Cleral is fleeing from the Sky Temple. He makes it to the outside courtyard and pauses to admire the statue. As he walks away, he fails to spot Lex Luthor standing behind him.) * Lex Luthor: It has more sentimental than monetary value. (Cleral stops dead at his words.) Nevertheless, I would prefer you did not steal it. * Cleral: It's a family heirloom. One that shouldn't have been given to you! (The statue disappears from Jin's hand in a flash of lightning, and reappears in Lex's.) * Lex Luthor: Your family honoured me with this memento of Oliver's father. After his death. * Cleral: A death you caused! You allied yourself with The Puppet Master a year ago, then stood there until the time you broke out of Arkham! * Lex Luthor: You've gone too far, Arrow. * Cleral: No... Not far enough. (They fight. Cleral defeats Lex.) Just let me go. (Cleral walks away, despondent, only to find Adluk standing in his path, completely uninjured from the brief fight.) * Adluk: Blood of Oliver, The Arrow... a common castaway. Did you think you could walk unimpeded into my temple and walk out again... without my complicity? * Cleral: You wanted me to attack you. Why? * Adluk: To release your anger. Make you amenable to reason. (Cleral hangs his head, unable to meet Adluk's eyes.) * Cleral: And make me feel like hell. * Lex Luthor: Self-loathing has always been an unfortunate part of your makeup. There lies ahead a brighter path. One that will truly honour your ancestors. (He puts a hand on Cleral's shoulder.) One that is worthy of you. Go to the Wu Shi Academy. Join the warriors, like Oliver before you. (Adluk takes his hand from Cleral's shoulder. The emerald archer turns away from him, still downcast.) * Cleral: I can't. They won't... accept-- * Lex Luthor: They care only about what is in your heart. Not whom your heart desires. * Cleral: It's too late for me. (Lex holds out the statue for Cleral. He takes it.) * Lex Luthor: It is never too late, Green Arrow. (Cleral finally looks into his eyes, and lights up with determination. Back in Outworld, Ares has his back to Kara in contemplation. D'Vorah, Slade, Ferra/Torr and Ares's soldiers still have Team S-F surrounded. He turns back round and walks toward Kara.) * Ares: Your news of refugees is troubling. Their exodus to Earthrealm was not known to me. (He turns away and walks onto the platform.) I do know this: I invited no guests from Earthrealm. Certainly none who would disrupt the execution of justice. (He places a hand on the stocks that the thief was formerly in.) * Ares: How do I know you are not allied with Mileena? Perhaps her newfound power has earned her new friends? * Kara Danvers: Friends? No. No! We're not even sure that's Shinnok's Amulet that she has-- * Ares: She employs Shinnok's Amulet against me?! The very item Earthrealm swore would be safe in it's care?! When Outworld was offered no participation-- (Realising that negotiations are taking a turn for the worse, Cleral starts forward.) * Kara Danvers: We were under attack, not Outworld-- (Cleral steps in front of Kara and interjects.) * Cleral: Ares... The Fire that Burns the Sun. We are here because we share your concerns about the missing item. We intend no ill against your rule. * Ares: At least one Earthrealmer can forge words like silver. But I recall an Earthrealm expression: "There is more honour among thieves than diplomats." * Cleral: I've had the questionable fortune to be both, Emperor. But I'm telling you the truth. * Ares: You are allied with Mileena. (To D'Vorah) You may carry out your sentence. * Cleral: Ares, under Outworld law, I claim the right of defence by combat. * Versad: What? * Hanso: You're gonna fight... a duel? * Cleral: To absolve us of all accusations. (To Ares) Denying the request brings dishonour upon the accuser. * Ares: You know much of Outworld. (He steps down from the platform.) * D'Vorah: Know also: The duel ends in death. (Cleral steps into a fighting stance as Ares does the same.) * Ares: You have won nothing. Merely a few more seconds of breath. (They fight. Cleral defeats The God of War.) * Cleral: And now, Emperor? (Breathing heavily, Ares cannot find the strength to rise again.) * Ares: The charges against you are void. I say to all that Earthrealm means Outworld no harm. (D'Vorah looks shocked at these words. Team S-F can barely believe it either. Ares gets to his knees, but rises no further.) * Ares: Now kill me. Be done with it. * Kara Danvers: You're not actually gonna...? (Cleral steps closer to Ares.) * Cleral: Instead of your life, I claim your service. (Ares looks up in surprise. Arthur Curry steps in. He joins Cleral.) * Aquaman: If Mileena does have the amulet, we can get it from her more easily if we work together. (The God of War rises to his feet. D'Vorah walks up to him.) * D'Vorah: Aquaman, they cannot be trusted-- * Aquaman: D'Vorah, can you not perceive? I am indebted to them. (He holds out his arm, and Cleral clasps it at the elbow. Aquaman returns the hand (or arm) shake.) * Cleral: You honour us, Aquaman. Our gratitude is wide like the ocean. (Aquaman says nothing, but frowns at the words.) * Kara Danvers: I'll talk to Catwoman. Tell her about our new... arrangement. Category:Raven: Justice League 2 Category:Scenes Category:Action Scenes Category:Fight Scenes Category:Horror Scenes